The following areguidelines
observed by PPPPC pilots to determine when it's
safe to fly. Most of our flying occurs in Colorado, so be mindful that some
of these guidelines may need to be modified for your location.
Please read our DISCLAIMER at the bottom of this page.

Time

2 hrs after sunrise or before sunset. In recent years, we
have seen much better conditions during morning sessions. Late
afternoon conditions have been frequently poor due to late day
thunderstorms and gusty winds.

Temperature

Many pilots become uncomfortable below
40F. Make sure your hands are well
protected from the cold! Some of our more thick-skinned pilots
will brave the cold down to 30F.

Wind Speed

Winds of less than 10Knots are
generally preferred. The icons shown
to the right can be found on our Weather Forecast
page. They link to several sites where wind speed forecasts are
available. It's usually a good idea to check several of the sites
since they can all provide different forecasts and information.

The NWS should be reporting winds at 9000'msl under 15knots and
12000'msl under 20. Check the direction as well. Winds aloft
in a significantly different direction than on the ground can indicate
good conditions for sheer, or rotor (learn more by reading about this
incident). The
icon shown to the right can be found on our Weather Forecast
page. It provides a link to blastvalve.com which it a hot air
ballooning site that provides winds aloft forecasting.

Stability

Instability should be mild and can be determined by noting a mild to
high pressure and no more than a -20 Thermal Index (T.I.) between surface and 12,000msl.
Watch surface temps and be leery of puddle temp increases. Summertime
can bring about T.I. negatives of -30 as early as 9am. For example, you
may measure 115f after a 10 minute surface temp measurement at 6000'msl
and then note that the NWS has reported 35f at 12,000'msl. This would
give a negative thermal index of -47 WOW!!!!! Fly early and late, quit
flying well before trigger temperature is met to avoid turbulence.

Do's & Dont's

Don't Fly with Thunderstorms Activity in Sight - following this rule could
have prevented several serious PPG
incidents.

Don't Fly with Lightening in Sight - Lightening is associated with
thunderstorm activity. Even if lightening is not nearby, the
associated storm activity can create dangerous
gust fronts for up to many 10's of miles away.

Don't Allow Weather Test Flights Unless... No pilot should be allowed to take
off and "Test The Air" unless all pilots in the group are under a
consensus that the air is safe to fly in.

DISCLAIMER:
SAFETY, AND EVERY DECISION TO FLY IS THE SOLE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF
EACH INDIVIDUAL PILOT. THESE GUIDELINES WERE NOT WRITTEN
BY METEOROLOGISTS. THEY MAY
NOT BE COMPLETE OR ABSOLUTE AND ARE PRESENTED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES
ONLY.